HM 685

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3	urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
4
5	WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative
6	Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free
7	markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty,
8	and
9	WHEREAS, the combined United States average federal-state
10	corporate income tax rate is over 39 percent, according to the
11	Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD),
12	meaning the United States imposes the second-highest overall
13	statutory corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, much
14	higher than the OECD average of 25 percent, and
15	WHEREAS, effective United States corporate tax rates are
16	out of step with the rest of the world, with studies estimating
17	the United States tax is between 4 and 17 percentage points
18	higher than the averages of other countries, according to a Tax
19	Foundation survey, and
20	WHEREAS, the federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent
21	undermines the ability of every state in the nation to compete
22	against lower-tax nations such as Canada, China, Great Britain,
23	Ireland, Korea, and Singapore, and
24	WHEREAS, 75 nations have cut their corporate taxes since
25	2007, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to
26	attract new business investment and jobs, and
27	WHEREAS, corporate taxes have been identified by the OECD
28	as the most harmful tax for long-term economic growth by
29	reducing investment, entrepreneurship, productivity, and wages,
30	and
31	WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau,
32	federal corporate income tax collections in 2008 amounted to
33	over $2,000 for every American household, a tax that is borne by
34	every American in the form of lower wages, higher prices, or
35	lower dividends, and
36	WHEREAS, while many federal officials have identified
37	corporate tax competitiveness as a serious problem, the Federal
38	Government, as of yet, has no official policy regarding United
39	States tax competitiveness, NOW, THEREFORE,
40
41	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43	That the Florida Legislature urges the United States
44	Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
45	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
46	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
47	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
48	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
49	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.